The Takedown | Israel Adesanya’s UFC 243 ‘Death Note’ sounds start of the new ‘Stylebender’ era
- ‘The Last Stylebender’ is finely positioned to take the reins as UFC’s next superstar, possessing the ‘it factor’ Dana White is searching for
- Middleweight champ combines showmanship with sound bites and deadly, precise striking – plus a love of anime
Israel Adesanya silenced the 57,000 crowd with a stunning second-round knockout of Robert “The Reaper” Whittaker at UFC 243 in Melbourne on Sunday. But “Stylebender” would have told you it was destiny.
The high-level striker boasts a 75-4 kick-boxing record, was a three-time King in the Ring champion and has been fighting MMA professionally since 2012. His success is certainly no fluke.
The haters often unfairly rip into his lack of wrestling and jiu-jitsu experience and cite his brutal knockout loss to Glory’s current kick-boxing double champion Alex Pereira in 2017. That only further fuelled Adesanya to humbly refine his MMA skill set over the years.
“After that [loss] I realised my dog still loves me, my coaches still love me, my parents still love me … I’ve risen like a phoenix,” he said at the post-event press conference in Australia.
The Nigerian-New Zealander is now finely positioned as the perfect character to take the UFC reins post-Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor.
